5 Benefits of Living in a Memory Care Community

Receiving the news that you or a loved one is now in need of memory care can be difficult to hear. It is a very big change of life, both for the one affected by Alzheimer’s or dementia and for their family too. This is why it’s important to do thorough research before choosing a memory care community. You want to make sure the community works for you, your loved one, and your family, in terms of a great location, quality care, professional staff, and a caring environment.

It’s extremely important to understand the difference between memory care and assisted living. If you or your loved one needs memory care, an assisted living community will not fully meet your needs.

There are so many benefits of living in a memory care community—here are five of them.

1. Highly Qualified Team

When it comes to memory care, it takes a special type of person to be a caregiver. Not only do they need to be specially trained in all of the disease processes that are associated with Alzheimer’s and dementia, but they need to be patient and compassionate too. These caregivers will also need to fully understand both the physical and emotional distress that those they work with are suffering from.

Because of this, our team members in our memory care community are highly qualified and have special expertise that you likely will not find in an assisted living or at home. Furthermore, these caregivers will treat you or your loved one just like they treat everyone else—with respect, with compassion, and with their best interests in mind. We understand that a quality staff at a memory care community can make all of the difference in the experience you or your loved one will have, which is why we make sure that our staff is top-notch, receives the proper training, and is compassionate

2. Resident-Centered Care

At a memory care community, the residents are the ones who come first. Caregivers work for them, to ensure they’re receiving the best care possible and are still able to live their lives as best as they can. To guarantee this, caregivers learn each resident’s personal history, which allows them to provide an even more personal and familiar level of care. It is so important to do your reach on the facility, after all you are entrusting them with something so precious. I recommend starting by searching your local area using your preferred search engine, using a term such as Chelsea Senior Living at Suffolk County should yield results that you can review and sift through to find and review the facility you are looking for.  It is also worth speaking to friends, neighbours, colleagues who have loved ones in similar facilities for reviews and assistance.  Research such as this is invaluable. 

At BridgeWater, we encourage all of our residents to bring familiar belongings with them when they move into our memory care community to help with the transition. This simple gesture will help you or your loved one feel more comfortable. Additionally, highly qualified team members use special validation techniques to help residents accept reality. In turn, this creates an environment that is caring, comfortable, and safe.

3. Services and Amenities

A memory care community is more than just a community—it will be your or your loved one’s new home. This is why many different services and amenities are in place to make sure that each resident truly feels as though they’re home, with everything they need in one place.

There are private apartment homes that residents and their families can decorate as they please. There are well-appointed community areas, secure garden courtyards, and specially designed activity programs so that our memory care residents can socialize in a safe and fun way. Assistance is also given in terms of bathing, showering, dressing, and grooming. There are also weekly housekeeping services and 24-hour emergency response monitoring.

4. Measurable Positive Outcome

First and foremost, a memory care community is a home for you or your loved one. But in addition to this, these communities are meant to help slow the progress of cognitive decline. Because of this, measuring positive outcomes is an important benefit of a memory care community. Here at BridgeWater Assisted Living, we encourage our residents’ communication skills on a regular basis.

Our residents are shown to have improved memory, a greater awareness of sensory and motor function, and a reduced need for any form of pharmaceutical intervention. This helps to decrease anxiety, depression, wandering, and restlessness in our memory care residents. Regular healthcare evaluations are given to each resident, which allows us to track progress and get ahead of a potential health emergency.

5. Activities Program

Our exclusive activity engagement program at BridgeWater Assisted Living helps create positive wellness and health outcomes as well. Our highly qualified staff is trained in this program too. A combination of music, mindfulness, art, and cognitive therapies are used to keep bodies active, spirits high, and minds engaged. All of this results in residents remaining happy, safe, and healthy.

To supplement this, real-time feedback is also provided to residents and their families. Equilibrium stimulates the brain and measures the feelings of each resident on a daily basis. This allows our team to continually adjust therapies and activities for the resident based on their specific needs, allowing maximum satisfaction and functioning to be achieved.

As you can see, there are many benefits to living in a memory care community. It will ensure you or your loved one is receiving the proper, personalized level of care to help slow the progress of memory loss. It also provides a safe, fun, comfortable environment for all residents to truly feel as though they are home. Additionally, here at BridgeWater Assisted Living specifically, our activities program works even deeper to create positive progress and to allow for more happiness and more positive measurable outcomes.

One important thing to do before choosing a memory care community is to go on a tour. This will let you get a feel for the community, ask more personal questions, and meet the team that will be caring for you or your loved one. We would love for you to come tour BridgeWater Assisted Living. Contact us today. We’d like to hear more about your needs and set up a tour.

Note: This is a collaborative post